Neither Jeremy or Evan seemed to have thier feet under them.
My favorite skate of the night were Mark and Evora. She still looked like she was in a blissful shock and it was a beautiful program.

I am suprised that Sasha did not skate in the exhbition. The crowd would have loved to see her. As somebody else mentioned we often have 4th place finishers skating, but most are going to 4CC. Sasha was not named to the 4CC team which is a wonder to me, so I don't see why they didn't ask her to stay for the exhibition.

All of the top ladies were invited to 4CC, but Rachael, Ashley and Sasha turned it down because they were all focused on Vancouver. It was decided beforehand that the Olympic team would not be going to 4CC because it would take away a big chunk of practice time right before Vancouver.

I'm also sure Sasha was invited to perform in the exhibition, but she probably declined. I think her injury flared up after her SP and the only cure is rest.

If some of the skaters seemed not at their best, they were probably exhausted. Also, the top men had finished their competitions a week beforehand, and got little if any practice time after that.

If some of the skaters seemed not at their best, they were probably exhausted. Also, the top men had finished their competitions a week beforehand, and got little if any practice time after that.

Vancouver is just around the corner, they should all still be training hard. :P
Jeremy's twitter implied that he went back to Michigan in between. So he was probably exausted from all the shuffling back and forth he had to do. Shame on USFSA for kowtowing to NBC's two-week demands in an Olympic year.

WHA??? Did we watch the same exhibition gala? In his first program, Jeremy landed cleanly a 3flip+3toe combination, a 3Axel, and a 2Lutz (really his only "error" of the entire gala if you can even call it that, considering it was a show version of his SP). In his second program, he landed cleanly a 3Lutz, a 2Axel, a 3Salchow, and a 3toe (little forward on the landing but clean). That's a lot of content for show skating. How in the world were his feet not under him? He didn't fall.

Well, you know, Johnny Weir never in his career once did anything for me.

That's a shame. Stéphane is my second favorite skater and most Johnny fans agree. I thought the same would apply in reverse, but I guess not. They both have amazing gala pieces, have wonderful artistry, and have been good friends since childhood. Love them to death. Takahashi as well. All male skaters that aren't afraid to be artists first are golden in my book.

some are gifted in that area, others aren't... I like a healthy mix of both, thanks.

Well of course that is the ideal. But when I think of past skaters I've loved, I think more about their skating as a whole and how their body expressed itself on the ice, rather than if they landed 8 triples or 2 quads or whatever. I've always been more of a footwork, spins, and choreography lover when it comes to Men's skating. I hope the next Olympic gold medalist has the total package jumps and artistry included.